Fair enough. I guess to me, the outstanding skating displayed by the topmost skaters (even if there were only 2) counts for a lot and elevates the entire period. Look at this way--in some ways the 1998-2002 Olympic cycle for men was a really poor cycle. Outside of Yags and Plush, there were the aging Stojko and Eldredge, wildly inconsistent Abt, Goebel who could only jump, and journeymen like Li and Weiss. But so many people cite 1998-2002 as a strong period for the men because the skating of the top 2 was so high in quality and so exciting.

How would you rank the men BTW?

Upon hearing your suggestions I think I would rerank the ladies quads as:

Although the main point still stands, 2011-2014 is far from the worst, and 1977-1980 is by far the worst of the last 40 years and way worse than the current one.

For the men, I am not sure. Perhaps something like this:

1. 1995-1998. Stojko, Urmanov, Eldredge, Kulik all at their peaks. Zagorodnuik, young Yagudin, Candelero, as major contenders as well, and also dark horses like Galindo, Millot, Scott Davis.

2. 1973-1976. Two of the most artistic and revolutionary skaters ever in Cranston and Curry, along with the very strong technical and figures skaters like Hoffmann, Kovalev, and Volkov, and some pretty good American skaters too.

3. 1977-1980. Hoffmann, Cousins, Tickner, all at their best and mostly figures specialist Kovalev. Also strong skaters like Santee, young Scott Hamilton, Scott Kramer, Brian Pockar, that amazing Japanese skater who blew everyone away with his free skating at the 77 Worlds but then dissapeared.

4. 1989-1992. Browning and Petrenko ruled this quad but you have a very strong U.S contingent with Eldredge, Bowman, Wylie, and Mitchell, the stylish Petr Barna who could do a quad as well, Filipowski, youngsters who came on strong like Urmanov, Stojko, and Zagorodniuk.

5. 1999-2002. Yagudin and Plushenko were mostly the highlights of the quad. However at times there was some great skating from Goebel, Weiss, Honda, and even Abt. An old Stojko hung in and was one of the leaders of the first half of the quad.

6. 1985-1988. This quad was all about the two Brians, and to a lesser degree strong Soviet skater Fadeev who was very inconsistent in free skating. Other strong skaters this quad at times were Savocik, Kotin, figures specialist Fischer, young Bowman and Browning, and Filipowski.

7. 2003-2006. An erratic quad of skating at time but still reasonably strong all the same. Plushenko at his best still, Joubert in his peak years from 2004-2007, Lambiel at his peak at the end of the quad. Goebel and Honda starting the quad strong as major forces, Weir at his peak from 2004-2006, and Lysacek emerging as a force.

8. 1993-1994. From this point forward is where the weak quads start. Not even a real quad as it was half a quad, but Stojko was the overall highlight of this quad. Browning at the 93 Worlds was great in winning but already technically on decline, which would acclerate in 94. Urmanov at the 94 Games and 93 Worlds was very good, but not consistent in his performances. Candelero emerged as a big force, Millot and Zagorodniuk also emerged as contenders. Petrenko's comeback was strong until the short program at the Games which likely prevented him from defending his 92 Gold. Boitano's comeback was less than stellar but brought interest nonetheless.

9. 1981-1984. Overall a pretty weak quad that culminated in Hamilton winning Olympic Gold with sluggish short and long program skates due to a big lead in figures on Orser and the general weakness of the rest of the field. Other than Hamilton, a young Orser who really only emerged in 83 as a force, and the quirky but not technically sound Schramm there wasnt much to note about this quad.

10. 2007-2010. Quad started decently with strong skating by Joubert, Takahashi, and at times Lambiel and Buttle, and then gradually melted away into a virtual nothing, culminating with a giant thud that culminated in a quadless Lysacek as World, Grand Prix final, and Olympic Champion.

11. 2011-2014. What more needs to be said that hasnt already been really.